Aphra Behn's The Rover

I have to say that I really enjoyed this play. Although to the unsuspecting eye it seems to be just another flaky play with love triangles, duels and mistaken identities, there are alot of underlying controversial issues involved. Behn is known for her sexual themes, but I found the strong sexual aggression towards women surprising. The fact that rape came up twice in the play and the men never found it as something immoral and wrong was just upsetting. Blunt once apologizes but only because he didn't know Florinda was a woman of quality. Is it OK to rape woman of a lesser class? Apparently so, according to the men of the play. It is funny how Behn can use such social issues as arranged marriages, forced religion and prostitution as the background to a light comedic play. She used this play to get her opinions heard and they were heard, as this was a very successful play. She was a woman who was very focused on woman's rights which is evident thoughout her works. she was a very accomplished and successful woman writer for her time and continues to surprise her readers today. ****4 stars

To see my weblog on Aphra Behn and The Rover go to: www.aphrabehnplaywright.blogspot.com

Margaret Cavendish and Catherine Philips

Maragaret Cavendish. wow. I was completely shocked by Blazing World and had to stop and make sure that I was actually reading what I waas reading and hadin't fallen asleep and into some crazy dream. I don't think that it was an ideal world for her, but I think she has just made up this kind of world in her head to try to find somepalce that may accept her more than the one that she lived in. She really is fascinated with the science of things. It must have been a struggle everyday for her not being taken seriously in the subjects that she urned to learn about. It sounds so frustrating. Well, she had obviously found something creative to do with her time. Nature's cook was another interesting one. She sure was one unique individual. The thought of death being a woman was interesting as I've never seen this before. Even thinking about the skeletal version with the cloke always seems to have male attributes.
She is reversing thr gender roles, although I didn't exactly know why she'd want death as a woman. Maybe it would be more kind, or perhaps it is to empower women. I dont' know. But this poem was very graphic and while reading, I found myself looking at the words saying ewww alot. But at least it was an interesting read

Mary Wroth and Amelia Lanyer

Well, I haven't blogged in a while. So, I'm going to try to catch up on a few things with this blog. First of all, in reading Amelia Lanyer's salve deus rex Judeorum, I was very bored, mostly because it was a long read, but I did enjoy, To All vertuous Ladies in General. It was a little lighter, partly I suppose because it was a poem for patraonage. But it was still a mice poem ot read. I have studied amelia Lanyer before and read her "The description of cooke-ham", which I really enjoyed. This poem is about an escape to an ideal world. although also proably a patronage poem To Lady Margaret and Cooke-ham, it was still sort of a warm and fuzzy place to go.It seems like a very welcoming place that one would like to go and visit. I found myself at the end of the poem, thinking this. Everything is beautiful and everything even in nature is inviting. It is an ideal of course, but it doesn't sound like too bad a place to go. I'd much rather venture there than the Blazing world of Maragaret Cavendish.

Mary Wroth's Pamphilius & Amphilanthus wax very long. I found it sad and pathetic that she is still pining over this man and upset that he still see other women. "He's just not that into you!" Let it go. This was sort of an annoying poem, looking back. She was a woman writer, which was making a huge leap for women and she is writing about pining over a man who is still sleeping with other women. At least at the end of the poem, she gives up on romantic love with this man. Even though this sonnet sequence was somewhat perturbing to me, I did like the line, "he should aspire to be more like me". this is flipping the gender roles of the time. Men were constantly boasting about how women were inferior to men. this changes things around by her saying that men should be a little more like women. (at least with monogamy). Bravo.